Lucy's Bad Day
by Molten-Ashes
Summary: Lucy finds what she thinks is a replica spirit key in a store... Will it make a good present for Natsu?


Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail

Please R&R

(Enjoy! Pre-read by Ice-Fata, so if there are any mistakes blame her.)

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===Magnolia===

Lucy wasn't having a good day.

It was an understatement really, but it hadn't fully developed into a bad day yet, that would only happen if it started raining. So when she felt the first tell tale splattering drops of rain from the grey blushed clouds above the town fell against her skin, she couldn't help but let out a depressed whimper. First, her solo mission ended up with no reward money because of some 'technical difficulties' and now this…

"This sucks." She whined to herself, her skimpy black mini-skirt ruffling with the sudden breeze making her skin prickle into goose-bumps, the Celestial Gate Keys at her hip jangling ominously as the downpour began in earnest, thick sheets of water suddenly dumping onto the Celestial Mage like a bucket of water.

She picked up her pace from a depressed slump to a full sprint for the nearest shop, her golden hair dripping water all over the welcome mat of an Antique Store as she let herself in, a cheery bell startling her as she created a miserable dripping puddle around herself, clutching her arms self consciously and grinning weekly at the startled old man behind the till.

"Bit of a wet day today isn't it?" the wrinkly old man commented with a shrug as if his perfectly good bright red carpet beneath Lucy's heels wasn't now covered with water, and returned to his morning paper, the pipe that had fallen lopsided from his mouth at her dynamic entry now returned to puffing out interesting rings, squares and triangles in a magical rainbow fog that circled around the light shade at the ceiling.

"I'm sorry about the mess." She tried to apologise, not so slyly wringing out her sopping wet hair in a convenient old fashioned coal bucket under a Sale Items sign. "The weather caught me by surprise."

"Old Tommy told me I'd get a customer here today." The gnarled old geezer replied, crinkling the paper as he turned the page, completely off topic as Lucy finally gained her bearings and began to wander around the small store of odds and ends. "It's rare I get any of your kind in here miss."

"Really?" the blond girl asked in surprise, scratching her head in puzzlement, currently browsing magic books of almost every topic. "But your store is filled with magic items; I would have thought that your store would have been crawling with Wizards!"

"Celestial Mages, dear, Old Tom said to me this morning as I picked up my paper, 'Why ! I do believe you will be receiving a visitor late in the morning, my wife foretold it in the Cards! She says that it will be a Celestial Mage too!'" the hawk nosed man raved, taking his pipe from his mouth and waving it around animatedly with his skeleton like hand, almost completely ignoring the brown eyed girl shaking her head and going back to browsing.

Then that was when she saw _it_.

It was a replica; obviously, it couldn't have been anything less for only three thousand jewel, the real thing would have probably cleared three million, if only for the fact that it summoned a real dragon, but Lucy had never been so tempted to buy something in all her life. Apart from that time in Hargeon when she had spotted a pair of killer heels…

The key crafted of a flawless translucent crystal lay in a red velvet layered box, the shiny black cover sporting a star chasing dragon. The key's shape mimicked the box's image almost perfectly, the body, wings and tail of the reptile making up the teeth and body of the key, while the dragon's open maw and the single star it was chasing made up the head.

The Celestial Mage had heard legends of the real key's spirit, told to her by Loke himself, who had admitted, after much begging on Natsu's part, that he had never actually met the ancient Celestial Spirit, but he could tell them the story.

The First Dragon King, a young dragon called Draco, took pity on a human child that he found wandering lost in the woods. He raised the child as his own, teaching him the ways of magic and of the dragons. But the only thing Draco did not have knowledge of was the stars that lit up the night sky , twinkling beside the silver disk of the moon and so when his human companion asked him of the pretty lights shooting across the heavens, the dragon could not answer.

Grieved that he could not give his adoptive son the knowledge he sought after, Draco began to study the stars, even after his human friend went off on his own adventures, teaching magic to those who had the power to do so. After hundreds of years, Draco finally understood the stars and turned his gaze back towards the earth to share his knowledge with his precious companion, only to find him gone from the world. It drove Draco mad, that he had pursued cold knowledge over the love of his family, and the dragon flew up into the clouds, roaring a challenge to the stars that he had learned from only to be struck down by a shooting star that he chased from the sky in his rage. The Spirit King, watching from who-knows-where, had deemed Draco's deeds worthy of being made into a constellation and so he was hung in the sky to be remembered for eternity. Draco's Key was rumoured to be one of the first of four keys sent from the stars to the first Celestial Wizards. Like the 12 Golden Zodiac Keys, there would only ever be one of those first Star Keys scattered across Fiore.

As Lucy skipped back from memory lane, the old creaky Mr. Crackpotts finally finished his rant and was commenting on her choice of interest.

"That old bit of junk has been sitting there for years." The man said, getting up from his chair, wobbling on long spindly legs like a newborn colt, reaching for a wooden walking cane leaning innocently by the till. "Nobody appreciates the old legends anymore, so trinkets like replicas of the Four Keys of Heaven don't sell very well."

"I'll take it!" Lucy grinned in delight, an idea springing to mind in her head so quickly you could almost see the light bulb appear over her head, reaching into her pouch beside her Gate Keys and pulling forth the bills to pay the surprised as she swiped the key and its box from the dusty shelf.

"Oh, well, thank you, miss." The old man smiled warmly, accepting the Jewels, "You'd better run along now miss, it seems the rain has let up for the moment."

True enough, the dreary downpour seemed to have tapered off beyond the grimy window, leaving the streets drenched and dripping with water while a cheery sun peeked from between lingering clouds. With a distracted wave to the old man, Lucy Heartfilia made her escape out into the fresh air.

===Fairy Tail Guild Hall===

"I think I might give it to Natsu for his birthday." Lucy said shyly, a blush colouring her cheeks, showing Levy the dragon constellation key at the bar as the Script Mage worked her way through a mountain of books that she always seemed to have on hand. "At least he can actually wave this one around without an actual spirit coming through the gate and kicking his ass. I swear I saw him try to sneak another go last night when I was writing another chapter of my novel. Loke says he will only take so much amateur waving about before he comes through the gate and beats Natsu into a pulp."

"So it is supposed to be the spirit key of Draco?" Gajeel asked leaning over Levy's shoulder from a convenient shadow to view the potential gift, startling both women enough to draw scared squeaks from the both of them. "The first Dragon King?"

"Supposedly, but if it were the real thing I probably would have had to pay millions for it." Lucy said with a fondness as she ran a finger over the crystal object lying in its box. "Draco is just as rare as the gold Zodiac keys, but he packs as much punch as a real dragon when it comes to destructive power."

"Metalicanna told me about the legend." The black haired Iron Dragon Slayer huffed, his red eyes narrowing in thought. "But he was mostly complaining about Draco teaching humans forbidden arts that we should have had no right to know in the first place."

Lucy hummed thoughtfully as Levy smiled gleefully, "Try it out Lucy!" she gushed shoving the box and the crystal key into the blond mage's hands. "What's the worst that could happen?!"

"Uh, it could summon an actual dragon?" Lucy replied gesturing around her, "and I don't know about you Levy, but I don't think the Master would be too pleased if a huge Star Dragon materialised in the middle of the guild hall."

"But you said yourself that this is a fake! Don't you trust your own judgement?" the Script Mage protested as Gajeel nodded his agreement silently, "Besides you said you would show me how you made contracts with those spirits of yours!"

Unfortunately for Lucy, most of the guild had quietened as soon as the blond had uttered the word 'dragon' and she silently cursed the sensitive hearing of the resident one man wrecking ball of a Fire Dragon Slayer when the pink haired man almost literally jumped to her side with a question of curiosity bubbling on his lips. Natsu almost squealed with untold delight when he spotted the key now in Lucy's hands.

"Lucy! You have a Dragon Spirit! Let me fight it!" he immediately demanded, clenched fist lighting up with crimson and orange flames as he posed before the startled spirit summoner.

"So much for this being a birthday present," Lucy sighed, levelling an accusing glare at an innocent looking Levy that was currently pretending to be immersed in her books again, Gajeel, for lack of any convenient excuses had grabbed a book from the pile that the blue haired mage beside him had brought and was currently pretending to read a textbook on astrophysics upside-down. "Traitors."

"Luuuucy!" Natsu cried, demanding her attention as he danced from foot to foot, wisps of fire dancing along his hands in excitement, "Hurry up!"

"I can't Natsu!" Lucy hissed as she attempted to leave the table, only to get the Fire Dragon Slayer attached to her legs, dragging the begging boy across the floor as he attempted to crocodile tear an agreement out of her. "It isn't even real!"

"But please!" he whined ignoring her reasoning, making the blond mage pause at his adorable begging expression, Happy dancing around their heads, flapping his wings gleefully.

"She liiiiikes you!" the blue feline giggled to the dramatising Natsu, earning a vicious yank on his tail courtesy of Lucy when he whizzed to close to her.

"I'm sorry!" the flying cat yowled, power flapping in an attempt to reclaim his tail from the fuming mage, zipping off in a blue, white and green blur when he was released to hide behind Cana's barrel of drink resting on the bar, "Meanie!" he called.

"Fine!" Lucy relented, almost stumbling off her feet when the pink haired slayer attached to her ankle jumped up and hugged her. "But prepare for disappointment!"

"Kiss, kiss, kiss!" she vaguely heard Mirajane whisper in the back ground, turning to glare at the self-proclaimed 'Match Maker' as she lurked nearby serving drinks.

"You're the best Luce!" Natsu grinned, all white teeth and fangs, stepping back eagerly to give her the space she needed.

Huffing, Lucy forced herself into position, rising the crystal key so that it was parallel away from her body, her magic flared as she began the chant, her seal glowing into being beneath her feet. "I call upon you to make a contract, I bequeath you to answer my call! Open, Gate of the Dragon Consetllation! King of Dragons! Draco!"

She swung the key down, the crystal shining in her palm.

There was no usual doorbell chime, no outward flux of power, just a sudden flare of magic power before nothing happened.

"Well, that was lame." Natsu commented in disappointment after a few moments of silence, crossing his arms in a huff. "I think you were ripped off Luce."

"I told you from the very beginning it was a fake!" Lucy growled at her best friend, turning on her heel to point at the Fire Dragon Slayer, as suddenly, the key in her hand seared hot. "Son of a…!" she cried, in surprise, automatically releasing the translucent crystal that was now glowing with a white light, to grasp at her now throbbing hand.

"Lucy!" Natsu cried, eyes widening, rushing towards her in concern, as a vortex of wind erupted in the middle of the guild hall.

A magic seal, glowing golden and bright expanded in the middle of the floor, prompting all of the members to scramble for cover as a loud roar echoed into being, almost as bone shaking as Natsu and Gajeel had described a dragon's roar to be.

"But! But that's impossible!" Lucy gasped as she felt her magic drain, collapsing to her backside in shock as the whole building began to shake, a huge crystal taloned paw rising through the floor, crushing tables and chairs as the Ancient Dragon King crawled into being before them, the Celestial Mage swiping up the glowing crystal key despite its burning glow and shaking it like she was trying to strangle the inanimate object. "I bought the key for three thousand jewel in a tacky Antique Shop for Mavis' sake! So stop summoning!"

"Best Day Ever." Natsu and Gajeel chorused, glee in their voices as the Star Dragon's head rose through the portal, breaking the roof beams like they were mere toothpicks, black with swirling galaxies trapped in his scales, translucent crystal forming his horns and furious looking maw. One eye silver, the other gold. His wings came next as the giant crawled forward almost taking down the building with him, parts of the guild flying as mages ran to the exit with screams and shouts of shock. The tail came last, tipped with large crystal blades that tore apart the second floor's balcony as the dragon settled on the mortal plane with a roar, star fire licking at the clear teeth.

"You summoned me?" it rumbled eventually, blinking lazily, as if it hadn't just stuffed itself inside the guild hall, its head twisted at an awkward angle to even see them on the floor, horns caught among the remaining beams.

""I… I…ugh…" Lucy, shocked and terrified beyond words behind the Fire and Iron Dragon Slayers that were cracking their knuckles spoiling for a fight, gripped the key she had swiped up in her attempts to stop the summoning and fainted on the spot.


End file.
